What struck me about Dembski's essay is his apparent surprise. He went to faith healer who has claimed to have raised 30 people from the dead - one an unembalmed gentleman who had purportedly been sealed in a coffin for 48 hours, then tapped on the lid to be let out. He got there, found that it was all a sham - all exploitation and cheesy showmanship - and was surprised.

I would second RB's surprise at the gullibility of Dr. Dr. D. This pair of sentences in his account was particularly striking (my emphasis).

Quote

My son's situation was not unique -- a man with bone cancer and his wife traveled a long distance, were likewise refused prayer, and left in tears. People with needs were shortchanged.

Just. Wow.

People who were expecting a personal miracle were disappointed. Shortchanged (interesting choice of words, that). How surprising. That really says a lot about the disconnect with reality that is apparently needed to be an ID guru...

As a father, I certainly have sympathy for Dembski and his wife. I've never had to deal with a chronically sick child, but I've known folks who deal with it every day, and it is obviously a serious burden. Nonetheless it is difficult, for me at least, to imagine how a highly educated man can apparently disconnect his brain to the extent needed to buy into this level of woo. He has my sympathy for that as well.

--------------Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mindHas been obligated from the beginningTo create an ordered universeAs the only possible proof of its own inheritance. - Pattiann Rogers